Patients having a cervical kyphosis disorder, such as typically abnormal curvature of the cervical vertebrae, often are advised to use a cervical traction device to restore the cervical curvature to a more normal profile. In this event, the patient may be able to purchase a mass produced cervical pillow or instructed in rolling a towel for use to this end. Unfortunately, given the wide variety of patient physiques (i.e. cervical curvatures, neck sizes, head sizes, shoulder sizes and the like) that are encountered in patients, a mass produced cervical pillow or a rolled towel will seldom provide a truly custom fit for the individual patient.
As a result, the patient is oftentimes advised to simply roll a towel into a cylindrical form of suitable size to use during prescribed cervical traction treatments in lieu of a mass produced cervical pillow or rolled towel.
Similarly, many patients have a need for a cervical pillow for use during sleeping and resting periods when the patient is lying on his or her side. The cervical pillow should conform well to the patient's neck to provide adequate support. However, given the wide variety of patient physiques that are encountered, a mass produced pillow or a rolled towel will seldom provide a truly custom fit for the individual patient.
There is a need to provide a cervical measurement apparatus that would allow the fabrication of cervical pillows to configurations and sizes custom-fit to the individual patient for use during traction treatment of the cervical curvature disorder, or during sleeping and resting periods to support the patient's neck properly.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4 756 090 and 4 903 412 describe a sizing kit for determining an appropriate size for an orthopedic pillow for use by a patient. The sizing kit comprises a series of differently sized and curved sizing members that can be stacked one atop the other to conform the patient's cervical profile and size and also to facilitate storage. This sizing kit is disadvantageous in that a plurality of sizing members must be handled and stored.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved cervical measurement apparatus that will allow fabrication of a cervical pillow to configurations and sizes in accordance with measured parameters obtained from the individual patient so to enable the manufacture of a cervical pillow custom-fit to that patient.